Mark Woods started his culinary training with his grandmother as a small child, and formally at the Opryland Hotel in Nashville as a private apprentice. As a chef, his travels took him from midtown Atlanta to south Florida and various places throughout the states, ending up with a catering, restaurant and manufacturing business in South Florida feeding spring training baseball players, stars and socialites in Palm Beach. He finds the art of food to be fun and adventurous.

"Horsing Around and a Doughnut or Two"

Posted Sunday, September 3, 2017, at 1:28 PM

Photo from horsedoughnuts.com

Well!....Another 'Horse Show" has come and gone! My campers started pulling up stakes yesterday evening and most pulled out early this morning. Seems I pay them little attention anymore compared to when I would sit outside for hours and talk about life and all that tangles us in this world. The campers that keep coming year after year have done so for over 40yrs, most of them anyhow! Nice, respectful, mindful of the resident, are just a sample of their traits, they are really a great bunch of folks! I will miss the sun block and the view they provided out my hazy windows as they milled around and puttered on golf carts built for a king around my house. I thought the heavy rain we received from the remnants of "Harvey" passing through would mire their trucks and campers. Its not bad at first glance however, there will be dead spots in the grass where front door carpets and wheels laid for a couple weeks. It's all in how one looks at it really, to me a patchwork quilt, to others it's a mess I reckon, like perfectly sprayed "Round-Up" attacked the fire-ant beds, or just a mess in all! One thing for sure, the area is cleaner then they found it, which I'm grateful for, right before passing cars flying down Blue Ribbon here, start chucking soda cups, beer cans, and the such, out of their vehicles, littering the front edge of lawns down our busy street! People have nerve and ruthless manners these days which I could blame on the parents of today's youth, but that's not only another subject and not so much the issue because I have witnessed adults doing the same, with little conscience about it themselves! I'll save that discussion for another day I guess! All in all, the "Horse Show" is over and we can now return to some sense of normalcy here in our quaint, little area of the world.

Let's talk "doughnuts"! I didn't even get to sample one this year from the sweet folks selling them over in front of the main entrance of the ring. Usually friends or family will bring me a box for free parking in my yard. I'm assuming no one went to the show that I knew this year but, I stayed in and quiet this past week and caught up on movies I had recorded. In general I was being a lazy butt curled up like the cat asleep and grazing the fridge on occasion if the truth be known! I did hear rumors the doughnuts were good, of course that was on "Facebook" and you're supposed to believe it if it has been posted there no doubt! Back in the day, best I remember, they were great, and I couldn't wait until I got my hands on some! Rumors have it now, the recipe went to the grave with the original lady who made them and for the last 10 years or so they have never recovered as the same ones that she had made. A few years back was a disaster in my book, they were horrible little grease bombs and flavorless but, last year they seem to be much better as far as I could tell! I enjoyed quite a few hot ones then and my waistline new it! I do know after many things are dropped in a hot grease fryer it cools down, and anything added, until it comes back up to temperature, will absorb the grease like a sponge requiring major hydration. I figured that one out early in the culinary field with fried foods and since then have sent numerous orders of soggy, dead fries back to the kitchen! Another "no-no" is double dipping into fryers for reheating purposes, it's much better to put a food item in a hot oven for reheating purposes, unless it's a manufactured prefabricated food item that's been par-cooked, which most restaurant foods are now! Seems no one scratch cooks anymore! It use to be everything you ordered in a restaurant was made fresh, right down to the daily breads, but now you get the same thing prepackaged in the frozen section of your local grocers. It's a shame, it really is, if the majority of us really knew what we we're consuming in food establishments these days we would stop doing restaurants all together! It has grown into a greedy industry where they pay little wages to untrained workers unwrapping and reheating prefab foods to send to the table. Most cooks today don't even need to speak English to earn little over minimum wage as a line cook. But here again this restaurant topic is for another day! I'm rambling I know!

I just spoke to one of my departing campers on the subject of those doughnuts and he said there were about 12,000 at the show last night and that the line to the doughnut stand was backed up and 100 deep with those caring up to 4 or more dozen size boxes up in the stands....this year must have been a winning season for the doughnuts! Well rats!...someone could have thought about little ole me and brought me one.....Fine! I see how you are, I got your number, and you got some "splaning to do Ricky"!...and you know darn well who you are! Just saying! Ha!

I guess we survived another year of the horse business and I one of my campers won't leave until morning with a camper stored a couple weeks in the back yard for the squirrels to bark at, but that's okay I reckon, it was a safe, happy 10 days for our visitors and that's fine by me! Not so fine for students though, it's my understanding that this was the last year they get out of school for the week, but on the brighter side it is a holiday weekend and if you are one of the lucky ones cookouts and an extra day off work is a good thing!

I never heard a word this year by or about those animal rights issues that have plagued the showing of horses over this past decade, maybe they are resting a spell! My opinion, which don't matter much, is that someone always wants to rain on another's parade in life! There has been so many career protesters this past year here in America it's a wonder no one has protested the huge things like "world hunger" and "the price of groceries" yet! You guessed it! That's another topic in itself here again!

I'm rather happy these days and I am in hopes everyone else is as well. Seems it takes a lot of energy to be miserable anymore and with all the negative things we could all focus on, it's a lot easier to grin and bare it then to listen to all the whinny issues facing us all. That's the facts and I'm sticking with it! We have another year before history repeats another "Horseshow", let's all get along until then and focus on each other's needs and happiness! It sure makes for easy living and I know that's what our cozy, charming little spot of heaven is all about!....Btw have you heard yet that Tullahoma is getting a new "Publix" now that's exciting! How come it ain't us? I guess the rumor we didn't have enough population was just that a "rumor" ! Oh well, close enough I reckon, sorry Kroger, you will only have me for short quick items as soon as their doors open, they carry "Boars Head" and "Driscoll Berries" instead of cheap stuff and off brands so I'll be ending our relationship soon! One things for sure, the days of a real baker and butcher in the grocery store is over! I know, another topic for another day! Hey "Visitors" and "Horse Fans" THANKS! See ya next time! Y'all come back now ya hear!

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You are starting to ramble like me Chef. There are times there is just too much running through the head to keep it contained.

I think of litterbugs every time we mow our property in Bell Buckle. As a teenager I was guilty of a little littering myself, but there cannot be THAT MANY teenagers in the community. Somewhere in my college days I learned the value of a trash can or collection bag in the car. Never looked back after that.

Donuts could be my nemesis very quickly. I used to HAVE to have those sugar donuts at the end of a Chinese buffet but common sense finally set in. I grew up on cake donuts with either granulated or powdered sugar and one of my uncles was a professional baker. I had it tough as a kid. :-)

-- Posted by stevemills on Tue, Sep 5, 2017, at 7:35 AM

Your horse donut was darling! I'm sure much better then the ones at the horse show. HP

-- Posted by horsepoopperson on Wed, Sep 6, 2017, at 5:14 PM

One of my campers said the doughnuts were good this year and the line was like 45 minutes long to get a box!....I think he exaggerated but, I wouldn't know for sure. The couple I tried to eat last year were not good at all! If I remember correctly, after trying to choke them down the remainder of the box set in my freezer for 6 months until they finally got pitched out. I would have, at the least tried one this year, but no one offered. That is okay though, surly by next year they will test a few before the show and perfect them even more! Maybe I'll get someone to park for a box so I can report on them. That would be the spirit!....